Fitting for doors



R. A. MILLER ETAL FITTING FOR VDooRs April 27, 1943.

Filed May 8, 1940 3 Sheets-Shea*I 2 April 27, 1943; R. A.- MILLER ErAL 2,317,931l

FITTING FOR DOORS V4 F776' l Y 4@ v 2g /fvvE/v Toe RoBERT f7. M LER am( QTTO/PNEK Patented Apr. 27, 1943 FITTING FOR DOORS Robert A. Miller, Tarentum,

Pa., assignors to `Pittsburgh Plate Ford City,

and Merle M. Eakins,

Glass Company, a corporation of Pennsylvania Application May s, 1940, ser'iaiNafssasss claims. (c1. 2li- 16)V l The present invention relates to hardware mountings for doors and it has particular relation to mountings suitable for use in combination with monolithic doors comprising single massive panels of tempered glass or similar hard and brittle material. v

One object of the invention is to provide a mounting of the foregoing type which is simple, rugged and secure and can be fastened to a door panel with a minimum of cutting or alteration of the panel to which it is applied 'Ihis and other objects of the invention will be apparent from consideration of the following specification and the appended claims.

The technique of tempering or heat-treating massive sheets or panels of glass for purposes of increasing the strength thereof has recently been brought to a high degree of perfection. Panels so treated possess a strength approximating that of cast iron, but retain the transparency and beauty characteristic of glass. It has been proposed to employ panels of such material for various purposes including that of providing closure elements or doors for the openings in buildings. However, difficulty has been encountered in connection with such structures, because of the peculiarities of the material.

Tempered glass panels, in addition to being characterized by great hardness, resilience and strength, are under internal strain, which upon rupture of the compression surface of a panel may result in complete shattering of the entire panel into relatively small, diced, but harmless fragments. This renders the plates safe, but it necessitates that any cutting operations to be performed upon the panels must be effected before they are tempered. Furthermore, care must be observed in the shaping and location of any openings or notches which are to be formed in the panel. For example, small holes of a diameter less thanV the thickness of the glass are not permissible because it is found practically impossible to temper a panel containing such holes. Holes and notches or corners in notches in the glass must also be carefully rounded and the radii of curvature must be comparatively large or the panels will be unstable and subject to sh-attering, even without preliminary rupture of the surface.

In accordance with the provisions of the present invention the foregoing difficulty is overcome by provision of an end element for adoor panel providing a socket completely enclosing the end of thek panel and being provided with elements adapted to engage small depressions formed in opposite edges of the panel in such manner as positively to lock the elements in position.

For a better understanding of the invention reference may now be had to the accompanying drawings in which like numerals refer to like parts.

In the drawings Figure 1 is afragmentary elevational view showing the lower portion of a door embodying the principles of the invention, together with a portion of the adjacent building wall.

Figure 2 is a plan view looking upwardly at the hinge mounting disclosed in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional lview takenv substantially upon lthe line III-,III of Figure 2.

. Figure 4 is a fragmentary elevational View of the top mounting for the door disclosed in Figure 1.

' Figure5 is a plan view of the mounting disclosed in Figure 4.

Figure 6 is a sectional view of a modified form of the invention; and

Figure 7 is a perspective View of one of the parts shown in Figure 6.

InY the vconstruction as disclosed in Figure l, a building Wall I0 of conventional design is formed with an opening II, the lower marginof which is defined by a floor structure I2. A door I3 comprising a monolithic panel of tempered glass is disposed as closure element in Vthisopening, and preferably is free of supporting or reinforcing structure intermediate of the lower and upper ends thereof. Prcferablysuch panels are of a thickness of about 1A to about 11/2 inches.

However, panels of somewhat greater or lesser thickness are permissible. Obviously a panel of this type ,is relatively heavy.

A mounting for hinging the door in place in the opening includes a shoe-like end element I4 of bronze, aluminum, stainless steel ,or the like designed to t overthe lower edge of Vthe door and provides asuitable socket for the latter.V Itv is to be observed that the shoe includes `a web I5, (shown in Fig. 3) which may be cast or otherwise formed'integrally with' the side wall portions I5 of the member. If desired, the portions of the sides below'the web may be somewhat more widely spaced than the portions above, in'

order to provide a more roomy housing for the reception panel.` f

It is to be noted that the panel I3 adjacent to its lower corners is formed with slight, arcuate indentations or notches vI'I in the' verticaledges 'I8 of the end velemfventl thereof. One end portion of the hinge structure 'for the door.,

is provided with a boss I9, of arcuate section, fitting into one of the depressions, and the opposite end portion 2| of the element includes an inwardly-projecting tongue 22, which is bored to receive a screw 23, securing it to the adjacent portion of the web I5. The end element 2I is also provided with a boss 24 projecting into the depression or recesses |1` in the adjacent vertical edge of the door panel.

In mounting the end element upon the door the member 2| is iirst removed after which the shoe I4 is slipped into position with the boss I9 disposed in one of the recesses I1. The end element 2| is next disposed in position and is secured to the web I5 by means of the screw 23. Bosses I9 and 24 in notches I1 positively lock the shoe from displacement by a vertical force. In order to insure a tight t between'theend element and the adjacent portions of the door a packing of cement, artificial resin, rubber or the like may be disposed in the socket vfor the panel. Still another -form of packing may comprise an easily fusible metal, or an alloy, such as 'rose metal, which may be poured in molten state into the space between the glass and the socket Without damaging the glass. If rose metal is Vemployed it tends to expand upon cooling and thus insures that the end element will at'all timesv securely grip the panel.

A construction providinga pintle socket for the door includes a plate 2B which may be secured to the web I5 by means of bolts or screws 21. The rear extremity l28 loi? a hinge arm 29 engages the lower face of the plate and is pivotally Asecured thereto by a pintle 30 extending upwardly into the plate. The extremity is, also, provided with a suitable socket for the reception 'of thejupper extremity 3| of a pintle 32 having a shoulder 33 upon'which portion 28 rests. Thepintles 32'may be an element of suitable closure mechanism (not shown) disposed in or beneath floor I2.

The forward extremity 34 `of the arm lis connected by oiset portion 35 to portion 28. It is, also, provided with a projecting lug 36 which, as shown in Figure 2, is engaged by set screws 31, threaded through the sides I6 of the end member I4. It will be apparent 'that 'by proper adjustment of the screws,it ispossible slightly to rotate the arm 'about pivot 30 in housing II4 in such manner as to permit of adjustment vof 'the door about the axis of rotation, thus insuring that it will come to rest 'in proper plane in its opening.

The opposite 'end of 'the construction maybe provided with afloor latch mechanism 4I), which includes a'lever 4I journaled atits rear extremityV up on a pin 42, extending transversely of the sides I6. The lever adjacent to itsiorward end may be provided with apin 43 adapted to project, when the lever is lowered, into a socket 44 vin thefloor of the building. l'Ihe forward or free extremity -of the-lever may further be provided with a transverse pin 45 adaptedto work in a slot`41, thus admitting of raising or lowering or" the end of the arm to lift the'stud 4'3 from the socket 44 when it is desired to unlock or lock the door.

A hinge mounting for the upper extremity of the door includes a socket-like structure 5I) quiteV similar in design to the structure I4 already described and including side walls 5| andan end: wall 52 integral with or rigidly secured toY the' side walls. A `web 53, corresponding to the "web I5 already described, interconnects the side walls': intermediate offtheir upper `and. `lower edges and dividesthe element 5|I`into upper and lower compartments, the latter of which is designed to receive the upper edge of the panel I3.

Notches or recesses 54, corresponding to the recesses I1, are also provided in the vertical edges of the upper extremity of the panel and one oi these receives a boss 56 projecting inwardly from the inner face of the end wall 52. The opposite end wall (51 of the construction) is formed as a separate and detachable unit having an inwardly-projecting arm or bracket 58, that, like the arm 23, is `secured in position upon the web connect- "ing the side walls of the structure by means of a screw 59.

The pintle bearing for the upper extremity of the panel includes a detachable socket element 6| having a depression 62 providing a bearing for a conventional door pintle 63 which may project downwardly from the lintel portion 64 of the door opening. Element 6| includes a bracket S8 which rests upon the upper face of the web 53 and has a slot Y61 formed therein for the reception of a screw B8, securing it Vin position upon the web. Socket element 6I is 'further secured in position by means of an adjustment screw B9, the rear extremity 1I of which projects into a socket in the end wall 52. The opposite extremity of the screw is received in a socket in the rear face of the element 6 I that may be adjusted by means ofi nut 13 threaded thereupon in such manner as to Aadmit -of adjusting the position of the socket element, in order to align it with the lower pintle 3|.

It will be apparent that the space between the upper extremity of the door `panel and the adjacentfwalls of the socket of the mounting may be filled with cement, Yrose metal or other packing material in the same manner as the socket of shoe I4.

It will be apparent that the construction herein disclosed is very simple and yet it'provides means positively securing hinge mountings to the extremities of a glass door panel without the necessity of ysubstantially modifying the panel structure itself. The simplicity vof the construction is in complete harmony with 'the appearance with the rest of Vthe panel.

In the form of the invention shown in Figures 6 and 7, the holding means for a hinge is attached solely toa 'single corner, for example, one `of the upper corners 'of a door panel Alill of tempered glass. In this construction, the panel .has vportions 8I of both a vertical .anda 'horizontal edge adjacent to the end cut-'away to receive :bars `82 and -83, whichmay be'of iron Vor the like, 'and may `be'separate units or may'berintegrally united to provide -a unit of-fL-shape. lThese tba'rslare provided intermediate-nf their lengthwithbosses 84, 86 of approximately semicrcular :sectional outline, which notchesof course extend fromface to face of theiglass and fare disposed as `keyele- .ientsinthenotches The bars `82 and 483 :are maintained lin p'ositionbya shoe-810i approximately triangular .outline and involving spacedside plates :88 .engaging theA sideb theglass and Ywebs mtegral with or otherwiseconnected to two contiguousiedges of each of the plates. This *shoetg over the bars '82 and 83 after'the'latter'have beenrdispo'sed in position in the cut away portions cf the door panel andis secured to the bars 'by screws 9| extending through 'openings 92 of webeil. `The spaces *between fthe various portions lof the tting and the .contiguous portions of `the-panel may .be fi11edwithia1packing` 'of rose metal flowed, -in whileitisfmolten, Y y

It will be noted that a relatively large opening 93 is formed in web 89 and receives a pintle 94 extending downward from lintel 96.

It is to be noted that when the construction is assembled the bosses 84, 86 act as keys, positively preventing displacement of the fitting by forces exerted in any direction in the plane of the door. Therefore, the effect is much the same as obtained by uses of the bosses I9, 24 of Figure 1 or 56 of Figure 3.

Although only a preferred form of the construction has been described, it will beapparent that numerous modifications may be made therein Without departure from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

What We claim is:

l. A hinge fitting for a door panel comprising a shoe to be tted at one end of a door panel, the shoe having side plates for engaging the sides of the panel and webs interconnecting the plates and a plurality of key elements secured within the shoe and being disposed to engage notches formed in two distinct edges of the panel, whereby the key portions positively prevent displacement of shoe in any direction in the plane of the door, said fitting being formed to receive a hinge pintle.

2. A door construction comprising a door panel and a hinge fitting for the panel, the panel having a plurality of notches formed in two edges at one end thereof, the hinge tting comprising a shoe engaging both of said edges and having key elements secured therein and engaging the notches to secure the shoe from displacement from the panel.

3. A hinge mounting for a door panel including an end element comprising a bar having a socket formed therein, which socket is adapted to slide over an extremity of a door panel and includes side walls engaging opposite faces of the panel, and a web portion interconnecting the side walls and enclosing the contiguous edge portion of the panel, said with means adapted to project into and engage recesses formed in opposite vertical edges ofl said panel, said element being provided with a connection for a pintle extending approximately at right angles toit.

4. In combination with a door panel comprising a single massive panel of hard and brittle material, which panel has arcuate recesses formed in the vertical edges thereof adjacent to one end, a bar-like shoe adapted to slide over said end and including side walls engaging opposite faces of the panel and a web interconnecting the side walls and enclosing the contiguous edge portion of the panel, and end walls having boss portions formed therein and being adapted to project into the arcuate recesses, said shoe further being provided with a connection for a pintle extending approximately at right angles to the shoe upon which pintle the dor is adapted to hinge.

5. In combination a door comprising a panel having notches formed in two verticalV edges thereof adjacent to one end, a bar-like shoe `formed with a socket adapted to fit over the end of the panel and including side walls engaging opposite faces of the panel and a web interconnecting the side Walls and enclosing the contiguous edge portion of the panel, the shoe having an end wall with a boss portion thereupon adapted to nt into one of the notches, the opposite end of the shoe being provided with a second boss portion, the latter being adapted to t into the remaining notch and being provided with means releasably securing it to the shoe to permit it to be moved into and secured in the latter notch after the shoe has been disposed upon the end of the panel.

ROBERT A. MILLER.

MERLE M. EAKINS.

element further being provided Y 

